Traditional Chinese Medicine View On Foods For Fall

Most of us are already aware that the types of foods that we eat directly affect our health and the better we eat generally speaking the better we feel and the healthier we are able to stay. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM for short) food is also considered medicine, as it should be in all forms of medicine. Just like mentioned above food can not only harm our health, but it can also heal our bodies and support our health. So lets talk about how TCM views foods for the seasons and in this case fall, and what foods may be the most helpful for us now.

Each food has its own energetics and properties. Each of these can influence our health and may be better for us at certain times of the year, during certain seasons or based on our personal constitution. As we head into fall there are certain illnesses that commonly crop up. Things like allergy symptom, sniffles, itchy eyes, sneezing, scratchy throat, sl cough, chapped lips, and other skin issues may crop up around this time. Since we can anticipate issues like these popping up during fall we can start eating foods that can help stop them before they start.

TCM theory states that each season corresponds to one of the five elements and each of those elements has a correspondence in the body. A really nice article found at broavotea.com put it very nicely,

“According to TCM, the lung system, the colon and fall are correlated.  The metal element is responsible for governing fall. The lungs and the colon are responsible for governing the metal element.  If you’re not familiar with TCM, you may be reading this and saying, “What?! What does metal have to do with my body?” So let’s break that down a bit more. According to TCM, the body is a smaller version of the world. They contain all the same elements and energies found on earth. The world has five elements. These elements are metal, wood, water, fire and earth. Each organ and emotion is connected to a different element and emotion. Due to these circumstances, your body should change to match the element for each season. Once your diet changes, the way you think, grieve and function should follow suit.

The Metal/fall element governs your mind, organization, order and stability. Lungs govern the metal element, the respiratory system, skin, hair and body fluids. Also, it controls your metabolism, immune systems, emotion, grief and blood circulation. The colon’s duty is to get rid of waste in the final stages of digestion.

So what types of foods, spices, and herbs should you be eating to support your over all health, lungs, and large intestine during the fall? Before we get to specific foods lets talk about how we should be preparing our food. Now is time to start transitioning to warmer, cooked and more moistening foods. We want to transition from cold and raw foods like raw veggies, salads, ice cream and popsicles, and making soups, stews and pickles. So bust out the crock pot and throw in some of the suggested foods below make yourself a pot of soup and watch the leaves begin to fall.

Here are some food suggestions":

cooked whole grains, glutinous rice, oats, roasted barley, sweet rice, spelt pumpkin, potatoes, sweet potatoes, taro root, squash, carrots, cabbage, corn, turnip, parsnips, yams, peas, stewed fruit, onions, leeks, garlic, turnip, shitake mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, daikon root chick peas, navy beans, black beans, walnuts chicken, Chinese black chicken, beef, lamb, quail, goose, rabbit mackerel, tuna, anchovy black pepper, fresh ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, fennel, molasses, rice syrup, barley malt, dates, figs, honey, Bay leaves ,Rosemary, Thyme, Turmeric

Happy eating!